The odds of former NSW premier Mike Baird succeeding Andrew Thorburn as National Australia Bank CEO have shortened, after the Hayne royal commission claimed another senior executive scalp in Andrew Hagger.

Mr Hagger said he would "take accountability for what has occurred on my watch" and stand down as head of consumer banking and wealth. The move came six weeks after senior counsel assisting the commission, Michael Hodge, QC, said he had displayed "disrespect for the role of the regulator and a disregard for the gravity of the events in question", an allegation NAB denied.